A pair of local runners have raised an incredible amount for Macmillan Cancer Support by running an unbelievable 227 miles in just seven days in a ‘Lulworth2Lydd’ challenge.
Ben Coleman, 44, and Paul Willis, 57, are both locals to Lydd who have been running together for over 14 years and this year decided to take part in a 227-mile run, ‘Lulworth2Lydd’, which raised over an unbelievable £11,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.
We caught up with Ben to find out a little bit more about the fundraising duo and the seven-day long run which saw a number of businesses and local residents come out to support then in a plethora of touching ways.
Ben, who works for the decommissioned Dungeness A-site, and Paul, who works for a tyre company in Ashford, were originally meant to take part in the gruelling challenge in April 2021, however, due to travel and accommodation restrictions the event was put on hold until the end of September 2021.
Ben spoke to us at CommunityAd explaining: “The challenge was originally 200 miles, however, we got wind of the New Forest Marathon on 25th September which was the day before we were due to run so we decided to put at the front of the challenge and in the end we ran over 227 miles.”
The competent running duo have completed a few marathons together in the past and were looking at starting ultra-running which led them to their charity challenge.
The pair were accompanied by Scott Wilson, a massage therapist who was their ‘key man’ keeping them going on the entire route, providing massages, food, drink and mental support throughout the 227 miles.
Ben explained to us that prior to setting off they had organised each day and where they would be running which required a lot of organising: “We had targets set up every single day, each day was around 34 miles and we planned it to fall in with our accommodation.
“All the way down the route we had guesthouses and hotels that also donated by way of free accommodation for us, everyone was really generous and really kind.”
For the first night the duo stayed in Wareham at Spurwing Guest House, the second night saw them stay at Barton-on-sea at Cliff House hotel. Moving on with their challenge, the third night was a coastal stay in Portsmouth at the Village Hotel, from Portsmouth they went to Lancing at the Beach Green Hotel.
The fifth night consisted of a stay in Eastbourne at the Bay Lodge Guest House, the penultimate night saw the duo pitch up in Hastings at The White Rock Hotel, and the final stay was at The Mermaid Inn in Rye.
From Rye, the duo finished with their final run and were joined by a local running club called ’20:20 Running Club’ based in Rye which Ben explained really help them get over the last 10-mile push.
“Thank you to everyone. All Paul and I have had to do is run, we couldn’t have done all this without help. Running is easy, but we couldn’t have run 227 miles without the support of everyone else on the way.”